A woman's place is in the...

I recently met a lady called Emma on Twitter, who has produced some fantastic t shirts stating “A woman’s place is in the House of Commons” (link to purchase below). Feminism and politics is too big an issue to cover in one blog post, but I wanted to explain why I’ve written “The Election” with a female politician protagonist.

Zoe Fletcher is one of the two main characters in my novel. She starts off as a student debater at Durham University and quickly fights her way to the top of her student society to become President. Right from the outset she faces misogyny and sexism from the “old boys” of the club. However, Zoe triumphs at university and she quickly rises up the ladder of a political career in Westminster. Of course, she faces some opposition along the way but I haven’t painted too stark a picture for what it’s like for women in politics.

The thing is, I don’t think women of my generation are as encumbered as previous generations. In 2015, women leaving school and university have exactly the same opportunities as men of the same age.  Somewhere along the way a gap appears and perhaps there is still a glass ceiling. But I think the ceiling is beginning to crack. Just look at the recent General Election leaders’ debates featuring Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood – they have made David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband look decidedly dated. The men strain to assert their authority and credentials as leaders, but the women seem confident in their style of consensual politics and appear as far more natural leaders. I’ve also been in contact with some fantastic female parliamentary candidates on Twitter who I’m certain will make a massive positive difference to government if elected.

I sense the tide of politics is changing in favour of equal representation for men and women (but still only around 25% of female PPC though, which needs to change). I wanted to write a political story from a woman’s point of view as I don’t think there’s too much of that out there at the moment. Of course, I am a man writing from woman’s perspective so how can I really know what I am writing about?

Judge for yourself by downloading my book from Kindle! - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE

If you want to buy Emma’s t shirt, here’s the link - https://www.etsy.com/shop/finprint

Why does a novel need a soundtrack?

When I wrote The Election I set out to tell the story of two characters who pursue very different career paths but constantly find themselves being pulled together. Zoe is a fledgling debater at university who goes on to pursue a successful parliamentary career. Adam discovers a talent for writing songs and becomes a successful musician.

It has been said that politics is rock music for ugly people. Regardless of the veracity of that statement I do think there is an element of attraction for politicians to the celebrity of pop music. Sometimes this has disastrous consequences, such as John Prescott’s attendance at the Brit awards in the 90s, and sometimes it can become cringeworthy such as Tony Blair’s appropriation of Noel Gallagher for Cool Britannia. On the flip side, musicians are often drawn towards politics in the hope that they can truly make a difference to the world.

And so when I wrote my novel about these two characters, it seemed right to include lyrics of songs for Adam to sing. After all, I have included excerpts of Zoe’s speeches during debates. The songs that Adam sings have been written and recorded. As part of the experience of reading the novel, I want people to listen to these songs to get an understanding of where the characters are coming from and I hope it enhances the storytelling.

Finally, I’ve discovered that when it comes to promoting a book nothing is very easy or fast paced. It takes several days if not weeks to read a novel. Even the prospect of downloading a novel is scary for a lot of people. Hopefully, by listening to the songs associated with the novel, people will become more interested in the story and even if they don’t read the novel itself they will understand what I am trying to tell. And, after all, telling stories is the ultimate goal.

You can listen to the tracks on my sound cloud page – www.soundcloud.com/phil-sidney

Why I wrote a political romance novel

I've just published my first novel on Kindle. I've styled it as a political romance story, which may seem like an oxymoron. These are the reasons why I've chosen to write my story:

Cynicism - There's too much bad feeling towards politics in the UK at the moment. A lot of people think the main parties are all the same and it's still male-dominated. I wanted to introduce a new female political character, Zoe Fletcher, who is different from the same old names we've seen before and wants to make the country a better place. I've taken her back to her student days and tried to show what motivated her to become involved in politics in the first place.

Apathy - Despite the recent advent of election fever it remains true that real life politics just isn't as exciting as fiction. One of my lead characters is a musician and I've tried to create a story that links the real world to politics. It's not just a political story set in the closed halls of Westminster. 

Opportunity - I'm not a marketing expert but you've got to agree that if I was going to write a novel about politics, then the UK General Election is the time to release it. While it's not all about politics, I hope that this story will gain some traction during an important time. It also gave me a vital deadline to aim for when I started the book in January, as I knew it had to be ready by now. Deadlines are important to me, just ask my wife. 

Challenge - I can't think of a political story in fiction or real life that's ever been a straightforward love story about two people. If you can, please let me know. It's too easy to descend into smut and intrigue, which I think has it's place (and there's a bit of it in the book) but I wanted to see if my characters operate beyond that. You can decide if I've achieved that. 

My first novel, The Election, is out now and can be downloaded (currently for free) at this link - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE 

I'm genuinely interested in feedback so please read and let me know what you think. 

Best wishes, Phil

I’ve just written my first novel and this is what I learned…

After many years of writing short stories and starting longer novels, I have finally finished writing my first full length novel called “The Election”. It will soon be available for sale on Kindle. Here are the top things I learned:

Goals and deadlines are important

It’s not enough to simply want to write
a story. You need support in getting to the end. I’ve started several stories and stalled after around 30,000 words. With this one, I set a goal of writing 1,000 words per day until my story was done. I also set a deadline – my story is focused on the UK General Election and it had to be done in time for the start of the campaign, otherwise I would have to wait another five years before telling it.

Time can be squeezed from the most unlikely of places

Looking back to my days as a student I can’t believe how much free time I squandered. Now I have a full time job and a 2 year old daughter. I spent a lot of time researching procrastinating about how top executives and leaders get the most out of their days. A lot of people get up really early and I’ve read all sorts about delegation, outsourcing, etc. At the end of the day it’s important to find a routine that works for you and I managed to carve out a daily writing habit.

Stop when you’ve still got enough steam to carry on

I think this is a tip from Ernest Hemingway, who suggested that we should always stop writing when we’ve got enough interest to come back to the work the next day. It’s incredibly demoralising to exhaust myself writing 10,000 words and then completely run out of energy or inclination to go on.

Enjoy the process

At the end of the day, how many authors actually sell millions of books and make a living by writing? Very few. I wouldn’t want to rely on writing as a full time job and I’ve got other interests. Writing is a part of me. It’s something that I enjoy doing as often as possible. With a bit of discipline I could call myself a writer but I’ve heard from too many authors who feel jaded and unappreciated. Even if no one else reads my books, at least I enjoy writing them. Write for yourself, not for anyone else.

My book, The Election, is currently on Kindle. Get it on Amazon now - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VJ39ILE